“CIBBL - Y8, Summer – CSL: round 3:

Stretched out in a comfortable sofa, a cup of Cothique wine in his hand and a soft breeze blowing in from the open window, Timaris Stormwing – owner and head coach of Modryn’s Midnight Meddlers – was still enjoying the unorthodox victory of his team against the Star Metal Sentinels. A beard incident had led to a riot, whereby the confused referee had lost track of time. The situation was then blatantly exploited by the cunning Timaris, who urged his Meddlers to keep on playing, leading to the winning touchdown. While cherishing the thought of the stolen win, Timaris had delegated the physical training sessions in preparation of the next match to Mereia, the assistant coach. The former catcher, whose career – like so many others – had been prematurely ended by a collision with the brutal fist of an opponent, had well adapted to her new role. In fact Mereia started to enjoy preparing the team for competition almost as much as playing herself. She had a good eye for new talent too. Syrabeth, one of the current stars of the team, was discovered by Mereia some seasons back. Nevertheless, her current focus was on getting the team ready to face Eternal Ecstacy, the Meddlers’ next opponent in this summer’s CIBBL Super League. The absence of Nimrodel hurt, but otherwise the team was in excellent shape to meet the cultists on the pitch.

That night Timaris showed up wearing his usual green cloak, while Mereia was comfortable in her tank top, completed by a black cap, a pair of fingerless gloves and black shades. Aery, the Meddlers’ cheer leader, was preparing the spectators for the game by trying out a new dance high on her platform. Meanwhile the catacombs below the pitch opened their doors and both teams started taking to the field. “Let’s have a blast!”, Timaris said to no one in particular while taking his seat. “No worries, boss, the team is ready”, Mereia answered. “They’d better be”, a prickled Timaris continued, “considering the fortunes I’m spending on their contracts and bonuses”. The recent wins had costed a significant sum indeed, although in truth Timaris didn’t really mind about the cost. “Complaining about the contracts again, boss?” Mereia teased him. “I know a consultant who can have look at them if you want”, she continued. “For a small fee of course”, she added. “I hear he’s quite good”, she said as she drew the attention of a waiter to order a martini, ready to enjoy the spectacle. “I’m sure he is”, Timaris replied, “but I prefer taking care of my own business myself”.

Then the referee blew his whistle, announcing the start of the game. The Meddlers had lost the coin toss and started kicking. After a hesitating start, Timaris urged his elves forward to put pressure on the ball. That strategy left some openings in the backfield though, of which the cultists benefited optimally. It was as if the Meddlers were the victim of one of their own favorite game plans. Ethandril got blitzed out of the way and with a mighty pass the ball landed in the hands of Slithette Darktouch. Instead of scoring immediately, the daemonette decided to stall though. Caelir made her regret that decision by taking her down with an ultimate effort which made a smile appear on Timaris’ face. “Excellent sense of initiative, I like it”, the Meddlers’ head coach commented. In the end it didn’t help much, as the ball landed only one square away. Next turn Slithette jumped up and simply picked it up: 0-1 with four turns to go.

In the second drive the complete right flank of the Meddlers got entranced by the cultists’ magic, which lead to the quick elimination of Syrabeth. It also opened up the left flank, which had been abandoned almost completely. At least, that’s what it looked like initially. The shrewd cultists quickly repositioned themselves, putting up a solid wall in front of the wood elves. It was then that Keira decided to leap over and dodge through the opposition. With a quick sprint she freed herself of her pursuers and positioned herself on the endline, ready to receive the ball. To eliminate the interception threat, Ethandril wrestled down a cultist, opening the path for Hauclir to lob the ball into Keira’s hands. The operation wasn’t without risk, but the score had been equalized nevertheless: 1-1 with one turn left on the clock. On the dancing platform Aery started the Meddlers’ victory dance in an effort to win the support of the crowd. A good opportunity for Mereia to order her second martini of the evening. She also adjusted her cap backwards, a sign the game had really attracted her interest. Meanwhile Timaris was his usual self, boasting of the elves’ superior ball handling skills to everyone who wanted to hear it.

The second half started with the Meddlers receiving the ball. But then they got Blitzed!, ruining the offensive game plan. Luckily the ball was out of reach of the cultist’s greedy claws. After they somewhat recovered from this unexpected turn of events, the Meddlers sent four players through the cultists’ lines, in scoring range. Then things got messy and the referee decided to intervene when Draygon inserted his boot in Syrabeth’s face. “Outrageous!”, an upset Timaris exclaimed from his seat on the bench. “Unacceptable!”, he continued. “Off with that man, if indeed a man he can still be called!”. The arbiter seemed to follow Timaris’ reasoning – the bag of gold handed to him the evening before might or might not have had an influence in that decision – and the foul cultist was banned from play. On the pitch Syrabeth seemed to have survived the brutal attack on her person without so much as even a scratch. The incident had almost dragged the Meddlers into an ordinary street brawl with the cultists of Eternal Ecstacy, which may have been exactly the plan of the opposition’s coach. But Hauclir kept his head cool and ran in the third touchdown of the evening in turn four: 2-1 for the Meddlers with five turns left to play.

The wood elves had good hopes of stopping the cultists’ drive until they lost three players, including Belborth Bluebark, in one turn. That was a bit too much to deal with. Eventually the cultist’s broke through. But they decided to play with fire by not scoring and offering Hauclir a blitz on the ball. Four dice were not enough however. Next turn Eternal Ecstasy gazed itself through the elf box surrounding the ballcarrier and simply score the equalizer: 2-2 and first draw of the season!
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